Resilient Power Puerto Rico | 2017

Organization: Resilient Power Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico

Resilient Power Puerto Rico (RPPR) is a Puerto Rico-based nonprofit organization that was founded in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria (September 20, 2017). RPPR was launched by Puerto Ricans living in New York City (Jonathan Marvel, Founding Principal at Marvel Architects and Cristina Roig) with an immediate goal of bringing power to the most impacted communities. In the months that followed Maria, RPPR channeled its resources to designated community groups—which provide direct, critical services to historically underserved communities throughout Puerto Rico—through the deployment of small to medium solar energy systems. Over the past two years, RPPR’s original program, the Community Solar Energy Initiative (CSEI), has increased local access in Puerto Rico to knowledge, tools, and resources for sustainable and equitable community development:   • RPPR partnered with community leaders to assess their critical energy needs and identify sites where solar energy systems would generate the greatest impact. • CSEI provided technical and financial resources for the design and installation of solar energy systems for critical assets in the communities most impacted by Hurricane Maria. CSEI has facilitated installations across 22 municipalities, including Vieques and Culebra. • To date, RPPR has deployed 30 solar energy systems to community centers (Fundación de Culebra, Comité Pro Desarrollo de Maunabo, and the Corporación de Salud y Desarrollo Otoao in Utuado) transforming the way communities interact with the energy landscape in Puerto Rico. • To date, CSEI has facilitated the donation of over 983 solar panels to 30 community groups island wide. • Through the CSEI program, RPPR has led multiple, community-focused workshops on solar energy in Puerto Rico. • RPPR has collaborated with over 15 academic programs in the United States that have visited Puerto Rico exploring and researching topics in island resilience and sustainability. RPPR’s ongoing commitment to power up as many community centers as possible is as pertinent today as it was two years ago. The organization’s success is due in part to the partnerships and network of committed collaborators that it built. Through their generosity, both financial and personal, RPPR has been capable of strengthening 30 communities’ capacities to respond to climate change. RPPR envisions a robust, diverse and inclusive renewable energy sector, where the tools and resources for the development of renewable energy microgrids are available for the benefit of all communities across Puerto Rico. To address current and future built and social infrastructure challenges, RPPR has recently partnered with Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) to launch The Puerto Rico Renewable Microgrid Program, a capacity-building program that aims to: • Increase the capacity of communities to assess and address their critical energy needs; • Increase communities’ access to knowledge, tools, and resources for sustainable and equitable community development; and, • Foster the continuity of critical built and social infrastructure systems developed and maintained by the community. Our experience working with communities in the aftermath of Maria taught us that people appreciate the benefits of having greater energy independence. RPPR’s innovative tools and resources are designed to help communities take a lead in addressing their own energy needs and be better prepared in the face of future weather events.